This invention relates to a motor supporting structure used to support the motor on a frame and having an elastic member adapted for preventing a vibration of the motor from being transmitted to the fame disposed between the frame and the motor.
An image reading apparatus, such as an image scanner, usually utilize the drive force of a motor to drive a member adapted to scan an original and read video information from the original. The motor is mounted within the image reading apparatus, and there is always an apprehension that a vibration might be transmitted from the motor to the other various components. To avoid this, a motor supporting structure adapted for elastically supporting the motor on the frame has been conventionally used. In the prior art as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the motor 4 is supported by a motor supporting structure 1 comprising a substantially L-shaped bracket 3 fixed to a frame 2 and a vibration damping member 5 disposed between motor 4 and bracket 3.
Vibration damping member 5 is provided in the form of an elastic member 7 made, for example, of rubber material disposed between a pair of supporting plates 6 and integrated therewith by suitable means, such as curing adhesion. Vibration damping member 5, bracket 3, and motor 4 are fixed by means of screw-clamping utilizing bolts 8.
With this motor supporting structure 1, a vibration transmitted from motor 4 to bracket 3 is damped by the vibration damping member 5, and a vibration of the other components of the apparatus can be avoided.
However, motor supporting structure 1 of the prior art as described above is disadvantageous in that the cost of parts inevitably increases, since vibration damping member 5 comprising elastic member 7 and the paired supporting plates 6 is disposed between bracket 3 and motor 4, and the number of parts correspondingly increases.
Additionally, vibration damping member 5 must be provided separately of motor 4 and bracket 3. Consequently, mourning motor 4 becomes complicated and troublesome. Thus, a high working efficiency cannot be expected, and time taken for this operation becomes undesirably long.